Pathway Rooms Design and Operations Guide - Manual (Page 6)

Pathport Rooms – Operations, Maintenance and Design – Page 6
Layout and Configuration - Overview
The steps below will guide a designer through determining the hardware
requirements of a Rooms system and will gather and organize the information
required to configure and program the Control Module. The steps are suitable for
creating a new installation, extending a current one, or retrofitting a Rooms
system into an existing hall. Sample worksheets are included in the appendix.
For those unfamiliar with the DMX512 control protocol for entertainment lighting,
please keep these key points in mind while planning. The protocol allows for a
maximum of 512 channels of control. If more channels are required, they will
exist in a second ‘universe’ of 512 channels, then a third and so on.
Although a dimmer requires only one DMX channel to operate, a moving light
may require as many as 32. Each output port will provide one universe of
channels, so it is a good practice to specify a 2-port node for each general output
location.
The Rooms System will manage up to 128 possible input universes. There is no
limit to the number of outputs.
It is possible to set multiple devices to a single DMX control channel, such as
when many dimmers are required for the ceiling lights in a given area or zone,
but the lights are always to be controlled together.